Town council's call for government funding for public toilets in Wales has been supported by local politicians.

Llandrindod Wells Town Council has suffered regular vandalism and hugely increasing maintenance costs for the toilets it runs at Station Crescent and at the Lakeside.

They took ownership of the Station Crescent public toilets on April 1 2015 to save them from closure by Powys County Council.

But they have been regularly vandalised and now needs a new roof which will cost about £15,000 and the general running costs are £13,000 a year.

In March 2016 Powys County Council said the Lakeside toilets would close, so the town council took them on a full repairs and maintenance lease. 

Apart from an initial grant of £3,500 for two years the county council has not provided any funding to run or maintain the county council owned property.

The lakeside toilets have become an increasing financial burden on the council with its budget rising from £4,000 to £11,000 in 2024/25 and it will significantly exceed this in 2025/26.

Town clerk Jane Johnston said: “This is unsustainable for the town council and we may therefore be forces to close an essential and well used public service. We have approached Powys County Council for financial support but it has confirmed that funding is unavailable and if we are unable to fund the continuing operation that Powys County Council would be of the view that the toilets should close. This toilet block is in the busiest tourist spot in our town and must be sustained.”

The council in a letter to Mid and West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick said they had applied for a grant to modernise and reduce the environmental impact of the toilets but they were unsuccessful.

They urged Ms Dodds and Mr Chadwick to raise the need for more grants or core government funding for public toilets in the Senedd.

In a response to the council, Ms Dodds said she supports the call for increased grants or core funding and they are looking into Welsh Government grants to see if there are any dedicated funding schemes available.

Mr Chadwick said there have been a series of private members bills, early day motions and petitions in Parliament on the issue and The British Toilet Association is campaigning for a statutory duty to provide public conveniences. He also asked the council if it has tried to use the planning system to encourage developers to fund new toilets.

The council welcomed the positive comments and will write to thank both and will ask them to keep them updated on progress.